Thailand's SCC ups stake in Vietnam’s first petrochemical project

Part of Vietnam's Dung Quat oil refinery in the central province of Quang Ngai. Photo by VnExpress/Tri Tin

The collapse of global oil prices had reportedly forced an investor from Qatar to sell up from the delayed project.

Thailand’s Siam Cement Public Company (SCC) has entered into an agreement to purchase a further 25 percent stake in Vietnam’s first petrochemical project from Qatar Petroleum International (QPI).

In a filing to Thailand's Stock Exchange on March 2, SCC said the transaction, valued at $36.1 million, will increase its stake in the Long Son project in Ba Ria- Vung Tau Province to 71 percent from 46 percent.

The Thai firm did not reveal the reasons behind the deal, but the Bangkok Post said in a report on Saturday the collapse of global oil prices had forced QPI to withdraw from the delayed project.

The remaining 29 percent stake is held by state-owned PetroVietnam. In 2011 the national oil and gas group bought an 11 percent stake in the project from state-owned Vietnam National Chemical Group (Vinachem).

The complex, around 100 kilometers (62 miles) southeast of Ho Chi Minh City, was licensed in 2008, but has been delayed for several years.

The project is now scheduled for completion in 2021, and will have an annual capacity of 1.4 million tons of olefins.

It will include storage facilities, a port, power plant and other utilities, and most of its downstream petrochemical products will be consumed by the domestic market in Vietnam, PetroVietnam has said.